Appeals Court Ends the Gamesmanship of Ousted Head of Special Counsel Office

Hampton Dellinger proved himself to be quite the operator in his court challenge to President Trump’s removal of him last month from his post as head of the Office of Special Counsel (OSC). On Monday, the D.C. Circuit ended his gamesmanship, ruling decisively against his reinstatement by the lower court.

As we’ve detailed (see here and here), Dellinger, a Biden appointee, got an Obama appointee, Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the federal district court in Washington, D.C., to promptly reinstate him, notwithstanding that there was no precedent supporting a judge’s use of an extraordinary temporary restraining order to reinstate an official who wields the president’s executive power and has been removed by the president.

About the Author

Andrew C. McCarthy

Andrew C. McCarthy is a senior fellow at National Review Institute, an NR contributing editor, and author of Ball of Collusion: The Plot to Rig an Election and Destroy a Presidency.

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Hampton Dellinger proved himself to be quite the operator in his court challenge to President Trump’s removal of him last month from his post as head of the Office of Special Counsel (OSC). On Monday, the D.C. Circuit ended his gamesmanship, ruling decisively against his reinstatement by the lower court.

As we’ve detailed (see here and here), Dellinger, a Biden appointee, got an Obama appointee, Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the federal district court in Washington, D.C., to promptly reinstate him, notwithstanding that there was no precedent supporting a judge’s use of an extraordinary temporary restraining order to reinstate an official who wields the president’s executive power and has been removed by the president.

About the Author

Andrew C. McCarthy

Andrew C. McCarthy is a senior fellow at National Review Institute, an NR contributing editor, and author of Ball of Collusion: The Plot to Rig an Election and Destroy a Presidency.